heat in the winter. My father set the temperature at seventy-two and re- treated to the den, which was situated directly above the furnace. There was a lull, and then big explosions. No mat- ter what comer of the house I hid myself in, I could hear my father bellowing, "LEAVE THE GOD-DAMNED THERMO- STAT ALONE!" "Earl, I didn't touch it!" "'\T d ' d ' A . ,,, IOU 1. galn. "I didn't think I even moved it, I just looked at it, I didn't mean to change it." ' ain! You monkeyed with it again! I had it set where I wanted it. And you moved it down to seventy!" "Well, if I did somehow change it, I'm sure I didn't mean to. You'd be hot, too, if you worked all day in the ki h " tc en. 'M I ask at the end of a long day at work is that the temperature be set in the Comfort Zone." "Earl, it is so hot in the kitchen. You don't know, because you're never in here, but it is so hot." "The low end of the Comfort Zone! Not even the middle! The low end! It is not too much to ask!" I wonder why "cartoonish" remains such a pejorative. It took me half my life to achieve seeing my parents as car- toons. And to become more perfectly a cartoon myself: what a victory that would be. My father eventually applied tech- nology to the problem of temperature. He bought a space heater to put behind his chair in the dining room, where he was bothered in winter by drafts from the bay window. Like so many of his appliance purchases, the heater was a pathetically cheap little thing, a wattage hog with a stertorous fan and a grin- ning orange mouth which dimmed the lights and drowned out conversation and produced a burning smell every I time it cycled on. When I was in high school, he bought a quieter, more ex- pensive model. One evening, my mother and I started reminiscing about the old model, caricaturing my father's tem- perature sensitivities, doing cartoons of the little heater's faults, the smoke and the buzzing, and my father got mad and left the table. He thought we were ganging up on him. He thought I was being cruel, and I was, but I was also for- giving him. . f>ç f\ ibJ y hl\ v: t lìV r fx NftJet s]) r . " n' ........." Leave nothmg to chance SI< Copynght 2004 NetJets Inc. AUDUBON and the A rt of NATURAL HISTORY I , ot.' "" , ,'..' ! .",^,," <:",l:'i-;%:fi: .Y" <""';Ab:: . M .:: / : .; : ;--." till" /' T' :', ' H trr He4 Hf tr INSTITUTE .' " ""'ø"",",,:,," .. ; .: i :...'... .. :.. . .' . <....,:.... .. .-,). . .... :: ...-' . :) :.::....:: . .. . Get Serious About Weight Loss! . t, 'fl , ""^, ," ",' . ,' ' ",-:.-" .....:-'i.;. : :_ ..:.:" ..' ""'. . . . :'", 'c ,;. i:t; t C:,<,.y:,;' tL . ::: If J ",.n;þ',;ii t i,pr::: J:J:-;r, ,'? ,,";' · Lose 7...14 pounds in a 2...week stay · Break the yo...yo diet cycle · Learn how to prepare healthy tneals · Discover a fitness program that works for you! SPECIALIZING IN THE FINEST ORIGINAl NATURAL HISTORY ART FROM THE 17 TH TO 19 TH CENTURIES. FEATURING WORKS BY AUDUBON, REDOUTE', GOULD, BESLER AND MANY OTHERS. O '" ":' \ JOEL ' , '.... PPENHEIMER . NATURAL HISTORY ART GALLERY Chicago · Charleston 410 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60611 312-642-5300 · www.audubonart.com Charleston: 843-853-1100 Color catalog available Established 1969 (800) 292..2440 Ask about our special rates and programs www.hhhealth.com THE NEW YOR.KER, NOVEMBER. 29, 2004 89